Starting Over

Chapter 6

The next morning, Tom laid in his bed after he woke up staring at the ceiling thinking about last night. He kept replaying what was said, glances that were exchanged. For the past three years, his entire life had been Ruth, and now, for the first time since he left Cornwall and that part of his life behind, he actually felt like there WAS something better for him. And there was something about Claire. Like she wasn't going to put up with his crap. And when he was working, he liked fixing the things she needed. It felt good that she depended on him to keep things moving in the cafe. He never felt needed before. He always felt like he was just THERE. He also liked that Claire appreciated him, which no one had ever made him feel. It made him wonder if she liked him or was just super friendly. He did know that he wanted to spend more time getting to know her.

Meanwhile, Claire sat on her patio outside the loft swirling a spoon in her coffee. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Tom and dinner the night before. His story bothered her, of course, but to be so jaded after your first love? And if his ex was cheating, how could she have moved on so quickly unless she hadn't loved him in the first place. Claire thought about what she knew about Tom. He was a hard worker and nice to the customers and Mrs. Beckwith, he wasn't very friendly with her but she figured his ex had left him mistrusting of women, so she could understand his hesitance. And he was so young, he didn't know what it was like to be in a proper relationship. Claire huffed wondering what she was thinking; there was no way Tom would be interested in hanging out at all with her.

She looked at her watch and realized she had classes starting soon, so she put her coffee in the sink and got dressed before running down to leave. She stopped at Toms door and knocked hoping he'd be awake.

Claire (gasped a little when he opened the door wwearing basketball shorts only) Oh. Uh. Sorry. I was about to leave and.... Did I wake you?

Tom: No. You didn't.

Claire: Um. The awning. Upstairs? If you wanna install it... I... I left the door unlocked. (Claire couldn't help but look at his chest.) Wow. Ok. I should go. I'm gonna be late. (She quickly looks away and goes to the back door to leave) Ok. Bye.

Tom: Bye, Claire. Enjoy your classes.

Tom smirked a little liking how flustered Claire got when he answered the door. He went back to grab his jumper and sneakers and went upstairs to install the awning.

Claire sat in class tapping her pencil on the table. She couldn't focus on the professor at all. She kept thinking about Tom with no answering his door without a shirt. She didn't want to look to much into it, but it seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing when he answered the door. And Claire felt like an idiot for playing right into it and reacting the way she did. He had a nice body, she had to admit that. In fact, she had to admit Tom was really good looking. Tall, brownish curly hair, brown eyes, and his mouth.... Claire shook her head as she started to focus on the test in class. She finished the test and turned it in, glad that class was over for the day and she could go home early to try and get Tom out of her head. As she was leaving, she noticed and flyer for an online GCSE course. She wondered if Tom actually dropped out or just took the test to be able to get out of school and get a job.

Claire got off the bus at the cafe and went up to her loft and saw Tom outside working on the awning. She noticed he had the radio on and was tapping his foot as he laid under the awning trying to put it together. She cleared her throat, startling Tom and making him hit his head when he sat up under the pole he was working on.

Tom (he rubs his head after he stands up): Damn!

Claire (flinches a little) Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that. You ok?

Tom (smiles as he rubs his forehead): I have a pretty thick skull. What are you doing back so early? I was trying to get this done before you got out of class as a surprise.

Claire (smiles and looks down at the awning): I had a test today and we could leave when we were done. I could leave if you want....

Tom: No! (Claire got wide-eyed and smirked when he yelled) I mean, you can if you want, it's whatever, I guess.

Claire (nods): Cool, I guess I'll just hang out here then. (Claire looks at the instructions and looks back at Tom) This looks complicated. Do you need some help maybe?

Tom (grabs the directions) Nah. I got everything under control. I haven't even needed to read these actually.

Claire: Probably a good thing. Those are in Chinese.

Tom (looks at the directions and grins sheepishly): Guess I grabbed the wrong ones for the box.

They stand around for a minute in silence kind of looking at each other trying to think if something to say.

Claire: So... Do you maybe wanna stay for dinner?

Tom (blurts out quickly) Yes! I mean, sure, I don't have any other plans.

Claire: Great! I was just going to order pizza but I guess I can throw something together. (Claire starts to walk into the loft, Tom grabs her arms to stop her)

Tom: Wait. You don't have to go to that much trouble.

Claire (smiles and looks at his hand on her arm): Oh, It's no trouble at all. I like to cook, remember? (She takes her free hand and puts it on his and moves it off her arm, holding for a second before letting it go)

Tom watched Claire walk out of the loft and smiled to himself he got back to work on the awning. He could tell she was not him, he was kind of feeling it too. She had beautiful blue eyes, they reminded him of the ocean there in Cornwall. Her hair was strawberry blonde and she usually wore it up in a couple of little buns on her head, but when she wasn't in the kitchen working, and she had it down? It looked like silk and he just wanted to run his fingers through it. Tom took a deep breath and shook his head, he needed to stop fawning over Claire and focus on the awning. But then he thought about touching her arm and her holding his hand when she moved it, even for a second.